MEASURING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON CHINESE DIGITAL PLATFORMS

On the occasion of Baselworld, DLG (Digital Luxury Group) introduced the China WOM Index, a convenient mobile tool that measures the word-of-mouth performance of luxury watch brands in China.

“Having a digital presence in China is one thing, but being able to effectively leverage the available platforms to maximise brand exposure and drive purchase intentions is another thing altogether,” says Pablo Mauron, Managing Director of DLG China and Partner.

Powered by big data technology firm simplyBrand, the online solution streamlined the entire monitoring and analysis process for brands and offered a quick overview of day-to-day performance on social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, and on search engine Baidu.

Only available on mobile, the launched version allowed for the tracking of 23 different luxury watch brands that were present at Baselworld. The free trial has since expired, but seven-day trend results from Baselworld are still available for viewing.

Chopard Took Chinese Digital Platforms By Storm On Baselworld Press Day

On a day where all participating brands are jostling for media attention and share of voice, how can one stand out from the rest? Chopard seems to have found the answer, as data collected by the DLG China WOM Index displayed. A snapshot from the press day of Baselworld shows that the Swiss jeweller and watchmaker won out the other brands in terms of share of voice on these channels, by a long shot.

A quick search on the tool showed that just prior to the opening of Baselworld, Chopard announced that it would be inviting Chinese singer Roy Wang (of TF Boys fame) to its press conference on 22 March. Wang, who was also named in Time’s list of 30 Most Influential Teens in 2017, was slated to do a live streaming of the entire event.

Given his huge fan base in China, much interest about the brand was generated on digital platforms in China. On 21 March, the brand’s share of voice on Baidu, WeChat and Weibo accounted for about 21.4% of the total (out of 23 Baselworld participating brands tracked by the China WOM Index).

While Chopard brought in A-list celebrities to generate huge amounts of exposure on social media in China, other brands like Rolex and Omega steadily remained at the top of overall word-of-mouth charts during Baselworld 2018 by relying on content strategies.

Then there is Patek Philippe. Interestingly, the Swiss watchmaker has no official social media presence in China ­– yet continues to perform consistently well on such platforms, in terms of share of voice. It should be noted that every other brand listed in the China WOM Index has a social media presence in China, either on WeChat or Weibo (or both).

On WeChat, Patek Philippe had a share of voice of about 10.6% (out of the 23 Baselworld brands that are tracked with the Index) for Press Day, and 7.95% for the first day of the fair. This puts it just behind brands like Longines and Omega, who are known for their strong social media activities in China. Additionally, it had 1.74% of the total share of voice on Weibo on Press Day, and 2.95% on opening day. These results are exceptional, bearing in mind that Patek Philippe does not make use of these social platforms are brand communication channels in China – indicating strong interest from the Chinese audience about the brand in general.